


Moon-Zoo

by MercuryHomophony



Series: Behold the Field in Which I store my Headcannons (TAZ) [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Goofy - Freeform, Implied Relationships, animals on the moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-30 17:13:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8541775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryHomophony/pseuds/MercuryHomophony
Summary: There are animals on the moon. There is a Bureau of Balance trying to figure out why.(There is a Burnsides trying to find the dog)





	1. The Beginning

Lucretia, Madame Director of the Bureau of Balance, was beginning to suspect something was off. Things were quiet around the base, which was pleasant… but also uncommon for long periods of time, especially when their dream team of reclaimers were around. There was usually something up with those three. And if there wasn’t something currently going on, it was because they were planning something, either against one another in a juvenile pranking war (they were grown men, for goodness sake, but that only seemed to raise the stakes) or, more concerning, banding together to plan something for the Bureau.

She made an executive decision, straightening the stack of papers on her desk before depositing them into her filing cabinet. She grabbed her staff, and headed out into the Bureau.

There were a few people out and about that afternoon. The only ongoing missions were the usual regulator rounds, looking for information on the remaining relics, for potential recruits, and generally keeping the peace while establishing B.O.B’s eyes and ears everywhere.

The few people who were out on the quad greeted her as she walked along, but hurried on their own way. She paid them little attention past their brief exchange, more focused on where her reclaimers might be that evening. She knew Taako was spending a suspicious amount of time at the “Chugg’n’Squeeze,” for some reason, and adjusted her path to head past it, to see if she could catch him.

That was when she heard it.

“Boof!”

\--

Magnus wasn’t sure why he was being called to the Director’s office. He’d been doing well in his training, so far as he knew, and he didn’t usually get sent off on solo missions… that was Merle’s territory, for some reason. But whatever it was, it must have been important, because Lucretia was staring him down from across the desk, fingers steepled so that only her eyes were visible from behind them. Despite the differences in their height, even while seated, he still managed to feel small under that gaze, and slowly sunk into his chair, unease rising in his gut. He mentally went over everything he’d done recently, trying to figure out if one of those things could have caused such an unnerving stare down. He jumped when her sigh broke the tense silence.

“Magnus, where is the dog?”

There was a moment as Magnus processed the sentence, then another as he processed his confusion… then a third, as he processed one particular word again. “There’s a _dog_?”

“Magnus.” Her voice carried that warning, parental tone of a mother trying to keep her toddler focused. “I’m assuming you know something about this, so don’t play dumb. I know you’re not fond of this policy, but we just _can’t_ have dogs on the moon. It’s a security risk, and, on top of that, a risk to the animal itself. And I know you wouldn’t want that.” She sighed again, ignoring Magnus’ elated-turning-confused expression. “I don’t know _how_ you got it up here, but I’m afraid it needs to go back to the planet.”

“Madame Director, not to, uh, be rude or anything, but- I have no idea what you’re talking about? There’s a _dog_?” And even with his confusion, his elation at the fact that there was a dog, somewhere on the moon, _right now_ , overweighed any indignation at her accusation. “I swear, I don’t know anything about it, but I would be _super_ glad to help you find it!”

She leveled a look at him, the same caliber as the one she’d given him earlier. His enthusiasm didn’t diminish in the slightest, looking more eager by the second. Internally, she heaved another sigh. If Magnus _had_ been responsible, he would look like a kicked puppy right now, instead of an excitable one. Which meant that someone else had smuggled a dog onto the moon, and she was going to have to chat with Avi to see if he knew anything. But, in the meantime…

“Yes, that would be great,” she told Magnus, who was nearly vibrating in the too-small chair at this point. “If you could find it and catch it, I would greatly appreciate it. But-“ Magnus was already out the door before she could finish. “Remember, it has to go back to the planet!” she called uselessly after him, before shaking her head with a begrudgingly fond grin. Reaching into one of the desk drawers, she pulled out her stone of farspeech.

“Avi? I need a word with you.”

\--

Mysteries were a scarce commodity on the moon. Mostly, you just got rumors, or gossip, and those weren’t really mysteries – someone knew the truth, or a couple of someone’s, or maybe somebody was making something up – but they weren’t mysteries. At least, not ones that Angus was concerned with.

But then Magnus caught sight of him on the quad, walking back from a magic session with Taako, and the little boy was practically ambushed by the overexcited fighter. And he was ever so excited to find that a real mystery had cropped up, right here on the moon!

(Well, one that wasn’t trying to murder people, like Taako’s umbra staff. That was mostly gossip, but he’d seen that one scorching ray firsthand, so…)

“Well, I guess the first thing we have to do is talk to witnesses!” he chirped. “You said the director saw it?”

“Well, I don’t know if she _saw_ it, I just know that she knows there’s one here. Somewhere.”

Angus hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin. “Then, I guess if she didn’t actually see it… Avi would be our next best guess. He sees almost everything that comes in and out of the base, and anything _he_ didn’t see, the other guys by the cannon probably did!”

“Great!” Magnus turned to run to the hangar, and Angus took a deep breath, bracing himself for the run he’d have to make to avoid being left behind in the dirt – then squeaked when Magnus turned back, scooping him up and hefting him onto his shoulders. “This’ll be faster!”

A mystery _and_ positive attention from his favorite trio of heroes? It was a good day!

(Now he just needed to make sure he didn’t fall off!)

\--

Johan hadn’t left the Voidfish’s room for an almost embarrassingly long time. Long enough, in fact, that when Madame Director came through, looking for Avi, of all people, she shooed him out onto the quad, telling him to “get some fresh air.”

He hadn’t left the moon base for far longer than he’d care to admit, but he still remembered what fresh air was like. And the moon base, as magical and well maintained as it was, was not fresh air.

He didn’t want to quite go back to his room yet – he was tired, but he was dreading the idea of sorting through all the junk that had slowly accumulated on his bed, starting at a simple pile of laundry at the foot of it before growing and completely devouring his sleeping space. So, rather than go and face that mess head on, he plodded across the campus, taking in the few moon-trees that someone had coerced into growing in the false dirt. After a few minutes of aimless meandering, he finally picked one, and plopped down at the base, resting his back against it.

The base tried hard to be like the world below, but it wasn’t. It couldn’t be, simple as that. And the efforts were appreciated, but… He sighed. The Director tried her best, for those few members of the B.o.B. that couldn’t often go planetside, but his fate still weighed heavy on him.

No one would remember him.

No one would remember his music, the thing he lived to create.

No one, save those up here, would remember the creature he’d dedicated his life to caring for, or why he did it.

And to top it all off, he had to draw inspiration from thin air. The moon didn’t have many muses, surprise surprise. Not like planetside, where things happened and people and creatures lived and loved and died…

He didn’t know when he’d gotten so apathetic. Was it before he came up here, or after? It was so long ago now that it was sometimes hard to tell. He glanced down at the violin in his hand, heaving a deep sigh. What was even the point?

A trill from above made him shoot up straight. That- he hadn’t heard a sound like that since-

Another trill followed it, then a few more. It sounded familiar, and at first, he couldn’t place it. He looked around for the source, tilting his head up towards the tree’s branches, standing and turning and walking backwards away from the tree, searching for the source.

He found it at the same moment he realized why it was so familiar.

It was one of _his_ pieces.

It sounded quite different, coming out of the mouth of this brightly colored  song-bird, sitting in a moon tree acting for all the world as if it belonged there (it didn’t, this was the moon, no animal should have been there…). It paused briefly at his outburst of movement, looking down on him, head cocked… then, still staring at him, it opened its mouth and sang another bar of notes.

Slowly, Johan lifted his violin, and played back.


	2. MAGNUS SEES A DOG!!!!!

It was day 8 of the animal mystery. Eight days of reports from people around the base of animals showing up, apparently out of the blue, running around, and disappearing. There had been at least one sighting every day, usually with only one witness – if the Madame Director hadn’t seen the first dog herself, she might have thought her entire staff was starting to lose it.

She hadn’t heard much from Magnus since their talk in her office, though she knew he was still hunting hopefully for a dog. Avi hadn’t seen anyone smuggle any animals in or out of the base through the hanger, and she even went so far as to insist on checking in Taako’s Pocket Spa and Magnus’ Pocket Workshop to see if her reclaimers had hidden a menagerie of animals there.

She could have understood it better if it was just one animal. Mistakes happened sometimes (there was that bizarre dove incident during Candlenights, though that had been _vastly_ overshadowed by everything that had happened after that), and there had been instances where there was, briefly, a squirrel or rodent of some sort living on the moon.

It usually ended with them falling off.

But what was going on right now was a damned epidemic. She had heard reports of dogs, cats, birds, some rodents (Killian insisted it was a weasel, Carey said it smelled like a mongoose, NO-3113 wanted to know how Carey knew what a mongoose smelled like, and that had been the end of that interview). They all appeared in different places, all vanishing before anyone could find out where they had come from.

She still had little Angus on the case.

He seemed quite confident he would have it solved soon, he just needed a few more clues to fall into place. She was starting to think that he was maybe not trying as hard as he could have, deciding to relish the mystery instead. She thought about pushing that issue – after all, this was a pretty big security breach – but the look on his face each day when she asked him about his progress, and he lit up, eagerly pulling out his notebook and reporting the clues he’d put together, she could hardly blame him. There wasn’t much for a kid his age to do up here. The base had been built with older folks in mind, after all. Things like the Chugg’n’Squeeze weren’t exactly age appropriate, and aside from the library, he didn’t have much to divert him from his job. So, she didn’t bring it up.

“The thing is, ma’am,” he said to her that day, after he finished relaying the few new clues he’s picked up the night before, “I feel like I’m missing an important clue. Like, there’s something that goes on when these animals are spotted that maybe the witnesses missed, because they weren’t looking for it! Or maybe, when the animals get away, there’s something there, and if I could just spot one of them, maybe I could figure the whole thing out.” He tapped his pencil against his lip thoughtfully. “You saw the first one, the dog, right? Was there anything weird going on?”

“It was quiet that night,” Lucretia responded immediately. She was regretting her unease at the restful air around the base that night – ever since she’d spotted the dog, the whole base had been on pins and needles – some eagerly looking out for animals, others wary and concerned for the welfare of the base. It had not been quiet since the news had gone out the second day. “But I’ve gone over this with you a number of times, Angus. If I remembered anything new, you know I would tell you first.”

“Yeah, I guess that is true,” he sighed, slipping the notebook and pen away into his little vest pocket. “Well, I guess I’ll look around and see if I can find anything else!”

She smiled at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair – then changing her mind, patting him on the shoulder instead. “Keep up the good work, Angus. I’m sure you’ll have it cracked in no time.”

He may as well have cast the cantrip “create light,” with the way his face lit up at that.

\--

“Magnus, I’m telling you, you need to get small!”

“Carey, have you _seen_ Magnus?” Merle asked, trying his best to keep up. Stupid long-legged people… “I don’t think he knows what small _means_.”

“Okay, one – I definitely do know what small means. Two – Merle is right, I’m a big dude. Getting small is not gonna help me keep people from hitting me.”

“Well then, we’re just gonna have to up your rogue-speed training.” Magnus groaned in response to that, and the dragonborn snorted. “Oh, don’t be such a baby, you’ve done it before.”

“Yeah, but it was _awful_.”

“Yeah, and your AC went up by like, two whole points. And wasn’t that useful when people were swinging at you?”

Magnus grumbled noncommittally, and Merle snorted. “She’s got you there.”

“Don’t think you’re getting out of extra training too,” Killian pipes up from behind him, giving him a quick noogie as she hopped past him to walk next to Carey. “You need to watch where you’re aiming! You’re on target practice all next week.”

He shrugged. “Still better than rogue training.”

“Oh, well if that’s how you feel about it, clearly I need to up the-”

“ _DOG!!_ ”

Merle, Killian and Carey blinked, freezing in place briefly as the living wall that was Magnus suddenly _vanished_ from his spot with them, having bolted off across the quad at just incredible speed. He was dashing towards the library, and between him and the building was a huge yellow greyhound.

“Aw shit! It’s another animal!” Killian whooped, taking off after Magnus, Carey and Merle hot on her heels. “Dude, catch it, catch it!”

All the shouting must have caught the creature’s attention, because it’s ears perked up, it looked over at the enormous mass of human barreling its way- and immediately did what any sane creature would, and turned and fled.

And it was _fast_. Magnus tried his best to keep after it, but he had always been more of a tank. Carey, on the other hand, was having better luck. She’d caught up with Magnus after a brief sprint, and was keeping pace with him, even as he flagged. Killian wasn’t far behind them, and Merle had given up shortly after they’d started, deciding instead to just bellow directions as they chased the dog around the quad.

“I’m- Not- Sure- I- Can- Keep- This- Up!” Magnus panted as they made their third lap. The greyhound was still looking pretty fresh, although any time it pulled ahead, it started to slow down again. “Anyone- Got- A plan?”

“How’s your throwing?” Carey asked back, breathing more easily than Magnus. “If you could throw me at it, I bet I could take it down.”

“That- Might- Hurt- It?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, right now it’s that, or let it get away again. Merle can always heal it if we hurt it a little, but the Director will be peeved if she-” she cut herself off, perking up as something crossed into their path from one of the buildings. “Mags, look _out!_ ”

Magnus had just enough time to see the tiny, terrified face of Angus McDonald, just leaving the main office building, and tried his best to skid to a stop. He managed sort of a skid, sort of a leap over him, and hit the ground with a roll. But, he’d managed not to hit Angus (he could hear Merle booing about that from somewhere to his left), and that was what mattered. He might rib the boy sometimes, but he was well aware how much damage a charging Magnus could do.

That is, a lot.

“O-oh my gosh sir!” Angus squeaked, eyes still round, hands shaking from where they were clutching his notebook in front of him, like the world’s most useless shield. “Are you alright?”

“I will be better if we still catch that dog, Ango!” Magnus rolled back to his feet, Killian and Carey pulling up to stop next to them. “Where did it go?”

“You found one of the animals?”

“It went that way, towards the library!” Merle called from his spot in the middle of the quad. The group looked over, and, sure enough, the dog was booking it for the library door. It reached it as they walked, jumping up onto its hind legs and pushing the door open before slipping inside.

“It won’t be able to hide in there!” Magnus shouted, picking a startled Angus up and gesturing to the regulators. “Let’s go!”

They booked it as quickly as they were able, letting Magnus take the lead – no one wanted to risk getting run over again – and Magnus burst into the library –

And straight into someone else.

“Ooof!”

Magnus paused at the familiar, high pitched voice, and Angus, tucked under his arm, adjusted his glasses and looked down. “Oh no! Taako, sir, are you okay?”

“What hit me?” Taako mumbled, laid out flat on the library floor, surrounded by the fallen books he must have been carrying before getting body checked by Magnus. “Wow, I think I took like 15 points there…”

“Aw shit.” Magnus put Angus down, just as the other three came running in. “Sorry Taako, we were chasing after that dog – did you see it come in here?”

“There’s a dog?” Taako frowned, sitting up and gently prodding his face, frown deepening when he realized his nose was bleeding.

“Yeah, it just ran in here a moment ago.”

Taako shrugged, slowly getting himself back to his feet. Angus had collected the books that had been scattered, but the wizard ignored him when he tried to give them back, so the kid resigned himself to carrying them. Besides, Taako had just been hurt, so it was only nice. “My dudes, I did not see a dog – I was just checking some shit out.”

“You missed practice today,” Killian started, but Magnus cut her off.

“Killian, we can talk about that later. Right now, there is a dog somewhere in this library, and we are going to find it. Merle – can you like,” he lowered his voice, “like, cast a quick healing spell on Taako, because I don’t want him to get mad at me for hitting him.”

Merle sighed and cast a quick healing spell, and Taako perked up gratefully. “So, Taako, you gonna help us find this dog?”

“Nah, man, I’ve still got some reading to do. Hey, you don’t need Anges, do you, because it’ll be a lot easier to carry these back with a helper.”

“No, he’s helping us find the dog. Right, Ango?”

Angus had a curious expression on his face, thoughtful and distant, but he came to attention at his name. “Um, actually sir, I think I’m going to help Taako. A-after all, he did just get hit pretty badly. And I don’t mind helping him out!”

“Ughhhh, okay. Suit yourself,” Magnus said, before turning to the rest of them. “Alright, lets split up and find this dog!”

The four of them took off in different directions, eager to scour the library, while Taako simply pulled the door open and left, a contemplative Angus in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine some of you may know what's going on at this point... but the next chapter will reveal all~!


	3. Angus is good at his job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mystery Revealed!

Angus was quiet until they reached the Tres Horny Boys headquarters, also known as those really sweet digs that the director had set them up with after they’d retrieved the Gaia Sash. Taako should have taken that as his first clue that something was up, but he’d been so lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t given much to his… coworker? Pupil, he guessed, technically.

Anyway, he supposed he should have noticed how quiet Angus was earlier, but he was preoccupied in his own thoughts, so he didn’t think about it until they got to his room and Angus finally piped up. “Sir?”

“You can just put them over there, I’ll sort through them later,” Taako replied offhandedly, still thinking his own thoughts as he headed over to the kitchenette. Some tea sounded nice, after a long day of research and spell testing and being bodychecked by his teammate who was probably three sizes larger than he was.

Dutifully, Angus placed the books carefully on the already overflowing coffee table, then walked over to where Taako was standing. “Sir? I have a question.”

“Hmm? What’s that, pumpkin?”

“Why are you turning into animals and running around the base?”

Angus caught the very slight hesitation of the wizard’s hand, before he relaxed again, as if nothing happened. “What? What makes you think that’s a thing? That I would do?”

“Well, for starters, you’re not a very good liar, so-”

“I object, I’m a _great_ liar!”

“…well, okay, I’m not sure why you’d want to brag about that, but-” He cleared his throat. “You’ve been busy researching a new spell these past two weeks, during which, animals started showing up.” Taako finished putting the kettle on, twirling one finger in a circle in a simple spell, heating the water and prepping the tea leaves. “Every time an animal shows up, there’s only one or two people around, but everyone I’ve talked to has had an alibi at one point or another, except for you.”

“I was studying, my little dude,” Taako interjected. “Just like you said.”

“Yeah, alright, but no one saw you there, is my point. The second clue are these books.” He tapped the books that he’d set down, careful not to knock them over. “These are all transmutation books.”

“It’s my school, Agnes.”

“But you’re an expert, Taako, sir,” Angus stressed, appealing to Taako’s ego. He could tell it worked, the way the elf preened at that. “Most these are books that talk about basic transmutations. This is stuff I’m sure you already know. Which means either you’re using them as an excuse to skip training, or you’re brushing up to do more complicated spells.”

“Angie, sweetie.” Taako turned around, leaning back against the kitchen counter, arms crossed. “Haven’t I told you in your lessons, the basics are _key_ to good spellcasting!”

“Sir, you’ve never said that.”

“Hm. Preeetty sure I have.” He shrugged. “That still doesn’t mean I’m turning into animals, Ango.”

“That leads me to my third clue – when we were walking back, you were out of breath – like you’d been running or exerting yourself, which is something you wouldn’t be doing in a library.”

“I’d like to see how well _you’re_ breathing after getting flattened by Magnus Fucking Burnsides!”

“Sir, you had me study basic healing spells three weeks ago. Any sort of damage or negative effects that Magnus caused should have been fixed by Merle’s spell, which means you were out of breath _before_ you got tackled.”

Taako sighed, turning back to the kettle as it started whistling. “That still doesn’t sound like proof, Ango. But better luck next time.”

“Sir?”

“Yeah, pumpkin?”

“You have dog fur on the back of your cloak.”

Taako whirled on the spot, craning his neck to peer over his shoulder with a “Shit!” Angus watched as he examined his backside… before slowly realizing what he was doing. He straightened up, fixing Angus with one of his patented irritated looks. “You little shit.”

Angus smiled back, trying and poorly hiding his nervousness. “So, why are you running around as animals, sir?”

Taako narrowed his eyes, looking for all the world like he was considering burning a spell slot (on what, Angus wasn’t sure – he’d never actually followed through on any of his threats to burn one on the detective, but Angus had never pushed is luck before), before falling back into his usual lax posture, eyes lidded in his normal lazy gaze. He turned away again, plucking two mugs from one of the shelves and pouring the steaming tea into them. He walked over, kicked some junk off the couch, and shoved one of the hot mugs into Angus’s hands. “Sit down, kiddo, time for an impromptu magic lesson.”

Relieved, Angus did his best not to drop the very hot mug as he sat down, looking for a place to put it while it cooled. Eventually (regretfully), he set it down on the least delicate looking book on the coffee table. “Are you going to teach me the spell you’re using?”

Taako snorted into his tea. “Absolutely not, that’s way outta your league right now. I’m just gonna lay down some transmutation theory and a few practical things to keep in mind.” He took a long sip of his tea, and Angus winced sympathetically, but Taako didn’t seem to notice how hot the liquid was. “Now, how much do you know about basic transmutation?”

“Just what you’ve taught me, sir!”

“Right, right… So, when you transform something inanimate, it becomes the new thing. Stone to wood, garlic to elderberries, etc. etc. There’s no way to know that the thing used to be something else, unless you cast Dispel Magic, which may not work even then, depending on how long the object has been transformed, and how powerful the spell was.”

Angus nodded.

“So, boy detective, tell me what happens when you transform something animate.”

Angus blinked, thinking for an answer. “Well… I guess… it would depend on the spell? Like, that if you change a dog into a cat, it’s still… it’s still a dog, kind of?” Taako didn’t respond, waiting for him to elaborate, and Angus struggled for a more complete answer. “I mean… it remembers being a dog, and existing as a dog, but it’s physically a cat, so…”

“So it may call itself a dog, if it doesn’t like being a cat,” Taako cut in. “But you’re right on one point- it remembers being a dog, and how being a dog is. It knows that. It doesn’t know how to be a cat.” He took another sip. “Now, imagine a wider gap, say… a dog to a bird. What happens then?”

“Well, I… imagine that would be quite alarming for the dog. It doesn’t know how to fly, or be a bird…” he trailed off, Taako’s motive finally falling into place. “Sir, were you _practicing_ being different animals?”

Taako grinned over his mug, settling back on the couch with a fair degree of self-satisfaction. “Bingo.”

“Um…. Can I ask _why_?”

“What is one of the most important aspects of doing magic in front of people, Agnes?”

“Showmanship,” he responded immediately. Taako had drilled that into his head right off the bat.

“Which is why it’s so important that the first time I do the spell in front of Magnus and Merle, it goes off _perfectly_.” Taako snorted again. “Can you imagine how goofy it would look if I turned into a bird and immediately fell, because I didn’t know how to fly?”

“I… imagine that would be pretty goofy, sir.” He paused. “Also, really dangerous. So, this is all just kind of training, huh?”

“That’s right.”

“Why haven’t you told anyone else?”

Taako rolled his eyes. “Because, Ango, that would spoil the _surprise_!” He started for another sip of tea, then paused, fixing Angus with a _look_. “Which means you can’t tell _anyone_ about this.”

“Um, Madame Director asked me to look into it, so…”

“Well, just make something up!” Taako waved a hand dismissively. He finished the last of his tea with a swig (which Angus could not understand – his was still boiling hot. Maybe he used magic to cool his own?), and sat the mug down on the messy table with a sigh. “Alright, Magic lesson over. Taako’s got a little more studying, so hop along, kiddo.”

“Um, Taako? Sir?”

Taako heaved a huge sigh. “What is it, Dangus, Mama Taako’s got magic to do.”

“Uh…” he looked down at his mug of tea, at the mess of books, then back at Taako. “Do- do you think I could sit with you while you study? I’ll be quiet! I’d just… like to learn more about transmutation, and you’ve got a lot of books here, so I thought… maybe…”

His gaze dropped again as he lost steam, so he missed the roll of the eyes, the tiny upward tick of Taako’s lips, before his expression smoothed back into its usual chill expression. He picked up one of the lighter books and tossed it at Angus, who yelped, scrambling to catch it after it hit his shoulder. Taako raised one eyebrow, pointing a warning finger at him.

“Not a word. Got it?”

Angus nodded vigorously, settling himself deeper into the couch cushions with a grin and opening the book. Taako scoffed, levitating one of the other tomes over to him, and pretending he didn’t notice the adoring looks he was receiving every so often.

And when Angus asked him a question about something he was reading, a few minutes later, maybe he didn’t kick him out.

\--

The animals disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as they had arrived.

Lucretia was still baffled by the whole event. Angus hadn’t been able to find the culprit, and no amount of searching could find hide nor hair of any of the creatures. The hype began to die down after the third day with no sightings, and the fourth day found Taako, Merle, and Johan consoling a moping Magnus over the fact that there had been a dog around, and he hadn’t been able to pet it.

It was back to business as usual, and as much as she’d like to press the issue, there were more important matters at hand… like getting her reclaimers up to snuff for their next mission. She wasn’t excited about the prospects of sending them off, but… well, they had to get the relics one way or another.

And things were as normal as they could be, in a moon base hosting the three densest heroes in the land.

…

(Well, there was one small difference – Johan stopped by her office one day, shortly after the sightings stopped, and, for the first time in his employ at the B.o.B., requested a short vacation planetside. She could hardly say no.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @gatsbythegerbil if I could have found a way to work in Magnus getting to hug the dog, I would have.  
> CLEARLY I need to write something else where Magnus gets to hug a dog bc I feel hugely guilty that pure soul Magnus Burnsides did not get to hug a dog here. ;3
> 
> EDIT: Hi Guys! I have a plea for you! I am in desperate need of funds. If you like what I write, and would like to help me out, please check out the post below for more details. Thank you!  
> http://mercurial-writ.tumblr.com/post/159047597334/help-a-writer-out  
> Thank you guys so much for reading and commenting and supporting this~!


End file.
